10 Meanest Backstage Wrestling Feuds
9. Triple H Vs. CM Punk
At Survivor Series 2006, Triple H and Shawn Michaels teamed with Matt and Jeff Hardy and WWE newcomer CM Punk to take on Rated RKO, Johnny Nitro, Gregory Helms and Mike Knox in a glorified squash match: the most generic babyface versions of D-Generation X and Team Extreme, angling for the easiest pop in the world.
Unfortunately, the Philadelphia crowd ran right over D-X’s crowd pleasing intro, chanting CM PUNK CM PUNK over and over. Nothing if not adaptable, the Game brought Punk in to lend a hand, but it was clear he wasn’t pleased. This was a guy he and Michaels had buried while watching his tryout in 2005 - now, that same guy was ruining their moment.
Things didn’t get better. The next five years were, from all reports, fraught with backstage tension between the two: the political animal coming to the tail end of his in-ring career, watching the rebellious upstart manoeuvering to take his spot.
Fast forward to 2011, and after a false start or two, CM Punk was the hottest thing in wrestling. That is, until Triple H, who’d gone part time earlier that year, inserted himself in as Punk’s last minute opponent at Night Of Champions, after Kevin Nash was mysteriously refused clearance to wrestle.
Despite Punk's meteoric rise that summer, Triple H went over in a babyface versus babyface grudge match - and in the process, Punk was booked to appear to be the junior partner, a bratty kid out of his depth in the grown-ups pool.
Punk’s momentum sagged… which, people speculated, was the point. Triple H is nothing if not a smart operator - he would have known that Punk’s fledgeling star status needed protection from the office (the kind of protection he gave Daniel Bryan two years later in spades), but he chose to play the badass veteran babyface putting the kid back in his place.
Matters came to a head between the two in 2014, when a frustrated, exhausted, injured and ill Punk walked out of the WWE the night after the Royal Rumble. Meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H that afternoon, Punk vented at them, telling Triple H in particular how much he resented having been held back when he’d been white hot.
That didn’t clear the air. In his podcast interview with Colt Cabana at the end of the year, Punk revealed how, days after mentioning his upcoming wedding to Triple H, WWE fired him via FedEx on the day of his marriage in a final calculated insult.